For the second year running, McFarlane Toys and spawn.com invaded the NFL Experience, this year in Houston for Super Bowl XXXVIII. Following up last year’s LaDainian Tomlinson and Junior Seau exclusive action figures in San Diego, the city of Houston received credit for their current and past football success with special figures of current Texans quarterback David Carr and former Oilers running back Eddie George.

The David Carr figure was painted in the Texans alternate red jersey and showcased the quarterback’s taped-down wedding ring on his left hand. Eddie George went from a Heisman Trophy-winning Buckeye to a first-round selection of the Houston Oilers, starting all 16 games in 1996 – the final season before the franchise relocated to Tennessee and eventually changed its name to the Titans. Only 5,000 of each figure were produced. Regular Yao Ming figures from our NBA 5 lineup were also available at the booth for the local basketball fans.

The first official day of the NFL Experience show was Thursday, Jan. 29. The line to purchase the toys wrapped around two-thirds of the entire collectibles area before doubling back on itself. Everyone who stayed in line Thursday was able to purchase a set of exclusives, and brisk sales on Friday and Saturday led to the final set of Carr and George figures being purchased Saturday at 2 PM.

Saturday also offered a special treat for our fans as Spawn creator and McFarlane Toys owner Todd McFarlane was seated in the autograph booth (next to five NFL stars and one NASA astronaut) from 4-6 PM. Following his “official signing,” Todd came over to the McFarlane Toys booth and spent the next three hours talking with fans, signing more autographs and even drawing original sketches for some very happy folks.

McFarlane Toys would like to thank the NFL for inviting us to Super Bowl Weekend and we look forward to heading east next January for the 2005 NFL Experience in Jacksonville, FL.